Family RV Trip: Day 4

So last night we stayed at a Walmart parking lot. I’m not gonna lie – it was pretty uneventful. What we lacked in water and electricity hook-ups, we made up for in replenishing our food supply. Oh, and I’m starting to perceive a trend with these nights. They typically go like this:

Fall asleep exhausted.

Awake at about 5:00 to either a dog stepping on you, licking you, or clicking their nails on the floor.

Attempt to fall back asleep (usually successfully).

Awake (but pretend to still be sleeping) at 6:00 when mom, dad, and grandma are going through cabinets, making coffee, and getting breakfast together.

Begrudgingly get out of bed, reminding myself both to go to bed earlier and to appreciate more the mornings when I’m home, in my own bed, with nothing to do for the day.

Proof that we actually stayed at a Walmart

So, yes. To summarize the above, we were awake very early, and headed off to Four Corners, UT, CO, NM, & AZ. We spent a bit of time there, taking pictures of standing in four places at once and shopping at the various Navajo and Ute stalls where they were selling their Native American goods. (American Indian? Native American? Apparently they’re undecided, and prefer to be referred to using their tribal affiliation.) Then, before we knew it, we were back in the RV to head to Page, Arizona… It was 10:15 am and we knew we had to be in Page by 12:45 for a raft tour down the Colorado River. It’s a 2.5 hour drive…

Oh! Before I move on! On the way to Page, we saw a cowboy! A real live cowboy! This is very exciting to me since I’ve recently fallen in love with country music. He was trying to corral an escaped cow that was right near the highway. I managed to snap one quick picture, but it wasn’t the greatest.

A cowboy! (sans cowboy hat)

So, we finally arrive in Page, barely on time (which should not surprise me…we always seem to be running late), and quickly checked in for the tour with which we had reservations. “Okay, be back here in about an hour,” said the lady behind the desk. WHAT?! An hour?! It appears that we forgot there was a time zone change and, beyond that, most cell phones and GPS systems pick up the time from surrounding towers that are actually on Mountain Standard Time, while Page is on Pacific Standard. (To find out what time zone you are in – if you are unaware or you’re travelling – you can check out this website).

We arrived back an hour later to take this amazing raft tour down the Colorado River. I took over 200 pictures; it is so gorgeous here. I’ve decided to devote more time to this experience (as well as Four Corners) in separate posts, so keep your eyes open for those! Just a brief teaser though: there was icy swimming, $10,000 porta-potties, and tons of wildlife! And I’m finally getting a bit of a tan, so there’s that. (Though my sisters remain darker than me, no matter how hard I try! I swear we don’t even look related.)

The sun shining over the red canyon walls

After that incredible experience, we realized the campsite at which we were going to stay did not have a grill, so we went to (you guessed it!) another Walmart to buy one. Finally we made it back to the campsite where Katie – the prospective engineer of the family – took it upon herself to construct the grill. She wouldn’t let me help. (Which may have been a good idea, though I’d like to think I can follow directions well!) Instead, I helped prepare the food, and at long last we finally sat down to a 9:00 pm dinner. Following dinner, my sisters and I ran to the hot tub (yes, a hot tub! This campsite seemed more like an oasis than “Oasis RV Resort” did) for a few minutes to release some stress and the kinks in our backs and necks from spending so long in the car. It was much needed.

Katie assembling the grill (and not letting us help… thus, Ashley is lounging and I am taking pictures)

By the way, there are no “Fly Killer” updates to report. Apparently Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona don’t have bugs. Katie says they have scorpions instead. I’m tempted to think they have both. (David Williams debunks a few myths about southwest crawly creatures… It still doesn’t fully comfort me!)